KAYAYEE DESERVE BETTER (JULY 6, 2010)

THE problem of the migration of our youth from all parts of the country to the urban centres has been a major challenge for policy makers from time immemorial.
Sadly, our governments have failed to take bold and pragmatic measures to provide opportunities for the youth in their localities to stem the rural-urban drift.
As a result of our economic realities, we are unable to take decisive action to bridge the development gap between the urban and the rural communities.
The extent of deprivation in certain parts of the country is beyond human comprehension. That after 53 years of political independence we have only succeeded in reducing the vulnerable in society into beggars on the streets of Accra cannot be something we should be proud of as a nation.
The Daily Graphic has huge expectations that the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) will help bridge the gap between the northern part of Ghana and the south and give a sense of hope and opportunities to all.
The SADA initiative is commendable and the acknowledgement of the lack of development in the three northern regions needs to be acted on if the country is to achieve even development.
The Daily Graphic draws attention to the development gap between the north and the south because a country which does not guarantee equal opportunities for its citizens cannot be one that can unleash the potential of its people.
The Vice-President hit the nail right on the head when he said, during an interaction with head porters in Accra last Saturday, “It is natural for people to migrate to areas where their conditions of living will be better.”
The root cause of the rural-urban drift is poverty, but we think that in all these challenges the buck stops with the government to give guidance and policy interventions that will help prevent social inequalities.
The conditions under which our head porters live in the city of Accra can only be described as dehumanising, to say the least.
We appeal to the government to devise the necessary policy actions that will help alleviate the plight of our sisters, in line with the NDC administration’s credential as a social democratic government.
Time without number, we have been told that the northern part of Ghana has the capacity to become the food basket of the country and beyond.
The potential to transform the arable land there into commercial and viable profit-making ventures is very real and the time for action is now because SADA can mark that watershed.
We urge the government to reverse the situation in the north because our compatriots deserve nothing short of their constitutional right to decent living.
The Daily Graphic commends the government for establishing SADA to lead the crusade to improve the well-being of the people in the operational areas of the authority.
However, we hasten to caution against the failure of policy interventions to address the yawning poverty gap within the country so that we can avoid civil strife in future.
We salute Smarty’s Management and Productions Limited and Mr Kofi Wayo, a politician, for bringing the plight of the Kayaye to the attention of policy makers.